She slowly meets my eyes, swallowing audibly. "If I sign this contract," she says, her voice husky. "That means this can't happen."
"What is this?" There's barely any space between us now.
///
She puts her hand on my chest, holding me back. "You coming on to me. If you're going to pay me to be your girlfriend, I can't sleep with you. I'll feel like a whore."
I didn't think about that. "So let's pretend you don't sign the contract. Would you fuck me anyway?"
"If I didn't sign the contract, I'd have no reason to see you again. So no." She closes her eyes. "I just … I made a mistake last night with you. I can't do it again."
Fuck. A mistake. That's not at all what I've been considering it. And yet I can't blame her for feeling that way, even if it makes me feel a bit fragile.
"Are you saying there's no way you can resist my advances?" I ask her with a grin.
Her lips press together in a thin line as she stares right into my eyes. "The last thing I want in this world is to add to your ridiculous ego but … you make it very, very hard." Pause. Hint of a smile. "Pun intended."
Smarten up, I tell myself quickly. This might work if you can just back off.
I nod and straighten, creating distance between us. I need to put on the gentleman act and just fucking behave for once.
"Okay," I tell her, trying to seem as harmless as possible. "I'll keep that in mind. So what do you say? Dinner tonight? If you don't want to do it, then fine. No harm, no foul. But if you do … I promise your life will change. For the better."
"Right. Because being Emmett Hill's girlfriend is that amazing."
"No. Because I'll treat you like a fucking queen, the way no one else has, the way you deserve to be treated. I'll take you to every fine restaurant you want, I'll shower you with gifts and jewels, I'll pay your rent, I'll take you anywhere in the world. And you'll be living a life you've only dreamed of for three months. I promise you I'll make them the best months of your life."
She doesn't believe me. I can tell.
But I can also tell she's up for the challenge.
Just like I am.
"Okay," she says. Reluctant. "Dinner. But this better just be a dinner. I'm not down for threesomes unless they're the male male variety." She taps her fingers along her chin. "Then again, you did say I could have whatever I wanted."
"Let's save the negotiations for later," I tell her. There's an awkward moment where I'm not sure if I should kiss her cheek or shake her hand so instead I just dig my business card out of my jeans and hand it to her. "Now you have my number. Call me if there are any changes but I'll be by at six-thirty."
Then I pat her on the shoulder and leave her room, striding past her roommate on the way to the front door. She was hovering around nearby, obviously trying to listen and not caring if I knew.
"Hopefully I'll be seeing you a lot," I tell her and then I'm out of the apartment.
When I get to my Audi on the street, I take a moment to breathe. I'm having second thoughts again. I mean, I have money but I have no idea what Alyssa wants. I'm curious, of course, because whatever she wants will reveal a lot about her but at the same time, well, I've done my share of gay scenes before in acting but a real life threesome like that isn't exactly up for negotiation. Thankfully, I don't think she's serious.
Then there's the fact that our real relationship–if you can call it that–is a lot messier than it should be for people who have to pretend to be something else. There are a million things that could go wrong, one of them being that if I need to get laid by someone in the next three months, I'll have to be especially sly about it or I'm going to cause an even worse publicity problem. If people don't like destructive, playboy Emmett, they'll hate cheating Emmett.
But if Autumn really thinks this will help, and could possibly get me future jobs, then it's a risk I have to take. All I have to do is keep it in my pants and put up with Alyssa.
Sounds easier said than done.
Regardless, I text Autumn: She's on for dinner tonight. Sounds interested.
And then I set off for home.
But once I get to my house, everything seems cold and empty. I have to admit, sometimes the beautiful things feel the most hollow. Even though Alyssa's apartment was tiny and messy, it was full of life and energy. It reminded me of the way I used to live, especially when I was in London and doing theatre. I was often alone, but never really felt it. Being around Alyssa in her space … even for a short amount of time, it felt strangely comforting.